Macau, China, May 28, 2025 (Lusa) - Macau's secretary for security stressed on Wednesday that journalists "are no exception" to the duty to comply with the law, following the arrest of two reporters at the local parliament on 17 April.
"It is not because of their profession that they do not need to comply with the law," said Wong Sio Chak, when questioned by journalists about the incident involving All About Macau, an online newspaper with a monthly print edition.
"It is important, we must comply with the law. No profession is an exception," the official added at a press conference reviewing crime in the first quarter of the year.
The two All About Macau journalists were detained by police as they tried to enter the Legislative Assembly hall to attend the presentation of the political programme in the area of Administration and Justice for 2025.
"The police enforce the law under the law. During the enforcement of the law, it is monitored by the judicial body, the Public Prosecutor's Office," Wong recalled.
The secretary declined to comment directly on the case, stressing that the Public Prosecutor's Office is currently conducting an investigation.
On 17 April, the Public Security Police indicated that it had referred the case to the Public Prosecutor's Office.
When questioned by Lusa, the Office of the Public Prosecutor, Chan Tsz King, said on Tuesday in a written response that it had no "information to disclose at this time" about the progress of the case.
The president of the Portuguese and English Press Association of Macau, José Miguel Encarnação, told Lusa that the Public Prosecutor's Office should "consider the facts carefully so that there are no major consequences".
The Asia coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, Beh Lih Yi, told Lusa that "the authorities should withdraw any potential charges against the All About Macau reporters".
Wong Sio Chak also said today that, in addition to journalists, "everyone must tell the story of Macau well", quoting the Chinese Communist Party's top official for the two semi-autonomous regions.
On 12 May, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, under the State Council, Xia Baolong, told local businesspeople that they should "tell the story of Hong Kong, Macau and China to the world".
In statements to Lusa, the Journalists and Communication Professionals in Asia (JOCPA) said that Portugal should have made "a discreet gesture or expressed concern" about the arrest of these journalists.
"We find Portugal's silence worrying, given its deep historical and cultural ties with Macau," lamented JOCPA president Josep Solano.
Macau, which was under Portuguese control for more than 400 years, passed to Chinese administration in 1999 under an agreement that the region would retain fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of the press, for the first 50 years.
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